State Department official blasts Hillary Clinton's private email system as 'not acceptable'

A State Department
official said Wednesday Hillary Clinton's use of private email
was 'not acceptable.'REUTERS/Joshua
Roberts

The State Department's chief freedom of information officer
blasted the use of private email by former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton as "not acceptable."

Assistant Secretary of State, Joyce Barr, testified
Wednesday before the
Senate Judiciary committee about open records laws in the
wake of revelations that Clinton employed a personal email
address housed on a private server during her time as Secretary
of State.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who sits on the senate committee,
called Clinton's approach as a "premeditated and deliberate"
attempt to avoid open records requirements.

“What really bothers me is when people plan in a
premeditated and deliberate sort of way to avoid the Freedom of
Information Act and federal government requirements that require
them to make public information available to the public. Of
course, we're all familiar with the news accounts of what
happened with former Secretary Clinton," Cornyn
said.

Barr said she had "no information" and "was not
aware" that Clinton was operating on a private, personal email
server. State Department FOIA head Joyce Barr testified before
Senate Committee on the Judiciary on
Wednesday.Senate Committee on the
Judiciary

Cornyn pressed Barr and asked if she was
concerned that Clinton's email could have been vulnerable to
cyber terrorists or hackers.

"Perhaps," Barr responded.

Cornyn then asked if Barr would be concerned if
a Cabinet-level official set up a private email account in order
to circumvent the freedom of information laws.

"In theory, yes,"
Barr said.

Barr was among
the witnesses before a Senate committee hearing on
"Informed Citizenry:
Examining the Administration's Efforts to Improve Open
Government." Republicans used the hearing to discuss Clinton's
use of a private email system for official business during her
time as secretary of state.

Clinton's email
practices have proved controversial since it was revealed in a
New York Times report that questioned whether it violated federal
regulations. Her campaign team has repeatedly defended her email
usage as secure and within the bounds of regulations. The scandal
has cast a shadow over Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign,
which she launched last month.